Archives
2003: Vol.
2, Numbers 1-12Read
past articles including:Series
on Leadership continued
Avoiding Dictatorship in a Free SocietyArt
and Politics Living
the Good LifeTeaching
Teens World
Peace in Less Than a Month?

Pretend you're happy when you're blue
It isn't very hard to do
And you'll find happiness without an end
Whenever you pretend

Remember anyone can dream
And nothing's bad as it may seem
The little things you haven't got
Could be a lot if you pretend

You'll find a love you can share
One you can call all your own
Just close your eyes, she'll be there
You'll never be alone

And if you sing this melody
You'll be pretending just like me
The world is mine; it can be yours, my friend
So why don't you pretend?

Pretend, Nat
King Cole, 1953

The feelings of loneliness and
isolation — feeling
powerless against the intractable walls of power and
bureaucracy, feeling disenfranchised and mute in our
idealism, feeling marginalized by fear and prejudice — have
made many take solace in their imaginations. This blossomed
with technology into the sheltered, virtual worlds
of Internet social and political life. There, we could
have friends who shared our visions and dreams; we
gained the power of having our voices heard on a level
playing field. In the virtual community there were
no obstacles to manifesting our gifts, and in that
world, writing them made them live. Many found a safe
haven there, to live where they could pretend that “nothing’s
bad as it may seem.” At the same time, many found
like-minded people and communities, and were empowered.

In the desert, the seeds of many
flowers lay dormant year after year waiting for the
right conditions to germinate and bloom. Many idealists,
visioning a world sustained by right relationships
with people and nature, lived their visions quietly “underground” — seeds
waiting. Now the time is right to sprout and grow in
the real world! The mantra of the victorious Obama
campaign, “Yes We Can,” has become the
rain in the desert. Idealists and visionaries are emerging
from the dry soil into the light, and the spiritual
landscape is changing to delight those open to the
coming spring!

Many people are still paralyzed
by obstacles of the past. Barriers to pursuing the
human dream of peace and security, to pursuing the
human rights of life, liberty, dignity and happiness,
to living in a world that is not put at risk by human
activities and ignorance, still seem insurmountable
to many. The reality is that when the time is right
the obstacles fall. The right time is the moment when
the full cup overflows. Now is the right time, because
the seeds, which are those who know the answers to
the human woe, are no longer dormant. Those who comprised
the scattered seeds of good throughout the world are
more and more quickly finding their allies and their
voices — their
fertile soil. The momentum is their increasing unity,
moving like a bulldozer against the walls of impossibility.
They are digging together the foundations of possibility.
We are so fortunate to have leaders who embody this
forward movement of humanity finally emerging from
obscurity. The events of the past year have given new
life to Dr. King’s credo: We shall overcome
one day!

Why are idealists so optimistic when viewing the current
social and economic upheaval? They know that crises
make people pay attention and listen. Pain makes people
very receptive to healing advice. Idealists know that
it is their time to speak out and serve. In the current
of historical necessity in which the world is struggling,
problem solvers come to the forefront. They are the
rope to which people now cling, with expectation and
hope. The underground seeds have been gestating quietly
storing their creative forces that will give form to
the needed solutions. Problem solvers have quietly
guarded the genetic DNA of human visionaries as our
sacred legacy. Time is the cyclic rhythm, that music
with which the builders of the new world will take
their cues and celebrate our future.

We no longer have to pretend, because
we are not alone. Joy, abundance, love and fellowship
for which Nat King Cole’s voice yearns in Pretend,
can be acquired by the opposite of pretending. Activists
are now finding traction as problem solvers and healers
of our planet and are finding their community widespread
and growing. We now have the tools to tell our stories
and to act together for good. The idea of community
is no longer limited by geography. The World Wide Web
is connecting people globally based on consciousness,
shared ideals and service. Thus, we must be grateful
for those who have kept hope alive through the darkest
days of human history, and through their perseverance
held open the door to the future.

It is so ironical that Nat King
Cole’s rendition
of Pretend covers the subtext
of hopelessness with such sweet and positive charm
that one may actually forget the painful historical
context. [In 1948 although enjoying the stature of
a popular icon with hit songs achieving a broad and
diverse audience, Cole’s
family met the ugly face of racism when he bought a
house in an upscale neighborhood of Los Angeles. So “pretending” was
surely a sweet way of surviving the violence of humiliation
and consoling one’s children.]